[Page 593]

The Jews lived quiet, unassuming lives in Vitebsk. Religious life was conspicuous in the city. Even Jews who were not religious observed Shabbos and Holidays. All of the stores and offices were closed, and there were no non-Jewish businesses by us. Thus did our settlement live with its customs and traditions until the Bolshevik overthrow,

The First World War had already brought great unrest to our lives. The initial great defeats at the front brought with them persecutions of Jews. The military regime wanted to account for its defeats, so they devised terrible rumors about Jews being the real enemy. In 1915, people began to drive Jews out of areas near the front. Many refugees from Lithuania and Courland came to Vitebsk. We lived then near two shuls where the refugees were settled. They found an open door by us and used to come to ask advice and to pour out their hearts.

My father, a”h, threw himself into community efforts to aid the refugees. And a great deal of help was needed. First the refugees had to be taken from the shuls and beis-medreshes and situated in more permanent dwellings. With the influx of refugees, that was no easy thing. People also had to take care of material needs. In our courtyard, my father distributed food to the refugees, and he also helped them monetarily that he got from the city, and he also provided more than a little from his own pocket. Our family knew nothing about that. But people we knew told us that he gave too much, beyond his means. But he was also involved in helping the unfortunate that he could think of nothing else.

[Page 594]

It was a bit easier in July of 1920 when the peace agreement was made with the Lithuanian Republic. The agreement made the point that the Soviet government was responsible for releasing the refugees and conducting them to the Lithuanian border. Many of the refugees took advantage of this and returned to their cities and shtetls in Lithuania from which they had been expelled. My father, a”h, understood that under the Bolshevik realm, Russia was no place for Jews, especially for religious Jews, and he knew to return to Lithuania, from which he had come (He was born in Vilkomir, in the district of Kovno.), although my great-grandfather, R' Shloymeo-Zalman Mushkatin, a poultry slaughterer, pleaded with him to remain in Vitebsk and be his replacement. My father could not resist, and so he gave in.

After the death of my great-grandfather, my father became a poultry slaughterer for a short time. Consequently he had to put up with a lot from the Bolsheviks, especially because they looked down on his pedigree—it was not much to come from generations of slaughterers! My great-grandfather and my father, as well his sons, were all slaughterers. He got no credit for this from the Bolsheviks.

In Vitebsk at that time there were more than 80 shuls and beis-medreshes. There were also, you must understand, yeshivas, cheders, and Talmud Torahs. The shuls all had not fewer than two daily minyans, and even at 3 or 4. On one of our main streets, on Vokzalner Street, there was a shul—Kleyn Pisarevski's Shul—whose door was open all day. People said the morning service from early in the morning until noon. From then until mid-afternoon they said the afternoon service. And after that they did the evening service.

Along with the refugees came rabbis, slaughterers, heads of yeshivas. Among them were great scholars. Many of them were frequent visitors to our home. Some of them took rabbinical positions. Others took positions as slaughterers. It is important to note that between these holy people—the new arrivals and the important residents—there were no quarrels. Rather, people tried as hard as they could to help. After the war, the re-evacuation began and many of them returned to their homes. Several, however, remained in Vitebsk.

[Page 595]

Truly, they thought to remain for a while and then they hoped to return home. But later, with the end of the re-evacuation, they were not allowed to leave Russia and they had to remain permanently with us in Vitebsk.

At that time in Vitebsk there were three high rabbis: Rabbi Shemaryahu Medalia on the small side, Rabbi Mordechai-Ber Gurewitsch on the Zarutscheyer side, and Rabbi Yehoshua Niemoitin in Zaharia. On religious life, as well as on community matters, Rabbi Shemaryahu Medalia had a great influence. His younger son, Hillel, was my friend starting in childhood. I was often at their home. I knew the Medalia family very well.

Rabbi Medalia was born in Kretingen, Lithuania. He held the rabbinical chair in Tula and then in Krolewetz, Ukraine. From there he came to Vitebsk. Rabbi Medalia was a great scholar and magnificent preacher and was very musical. He belonged among the intimates of the Lubatshiver Rebbe. Even Christians trusted in him and came to him when there were financial disputes. He was by habit a loving man, always with a smile on his face. I never remember Rabbi Medalia being angry or cross with anyone. But the good and affable Rabbi Medalia could be stern when he had to deal with a matter that had a bearing on Yiddishkeit.

I remember one case when he was outspoken. Let me tell you. This happened in the time of the Bolsheviks. On one Shabbos, the famous chazan Pintshik came to Vitebsk. People were only allowed into the shul with tickets. The public, hungering to hear a cantor, particularly Pintshik, tore into the shul. Around the shul there were militiamen who did not allow entry to those without tickets. When, early in the morning, Rabbi Medalia came to the shul, they did not allow even him to enter without a ticket…When he saw militiamen by the shul and the large crowd who were not allowed into the sacred place, he was so angry that he became as pale as the wall. Meanwhile, a militiaman recognized him and he was allowed entry. The shul was packed. When people saw Rabbi Medalia, people crowded together to let him through. When he got to the reader's stand, he looked toward the bimah, where Pintshik was already standing, and he called out:

[Page 596]

“The chazan must come down from the bimah! This is a desecration of Shabbos!”

The crowd was astonished. Since Rabbi Medalia had not called on the chazan to start the prayers, he would not go to the reader's stand. The shul officials and the leading citizens who were there told him to dismiss the militiamen and to admit all the Jews who were standing outside. Only then could Pintshik began the prayers. Pintshik said the prayers with such sweetness that that Shabbos was remembered in Vitebsk for a long, long time.

He had a large family—six sons and five daughters. All of his children survived. His eldest son, R' Aharon-Shlomo, was a remarkable scholar. His second son, R' Moyshe, was also a great scholar. He learned to be a slaughterer from my father, a”h. And I learned to read Torah from him. At twenty-something years old he received rabbinical ordination and became the rabbi of Tula. After that, he took rabbinical positions in Rostov-on-Don. The NKVD arrested him there and sent him to a camp from which he did not emerge alive. His youngest son, Hillel, is now a rabbi in England.

Inasmuch as Rabbi Medalia was so popular and influential in the city, it is no wonder that the G.P.O. ranks focused on him and targeted him, and the local press went after him. Finally he had to leave Vitebsk, and he settled in Moscow. But he did not emerge alive from the hands of the Bolsheviks.

On the smaller side, there suddenly appeared a Rabbi Goldberg, who was called in Vitebsk “The Russian Rabbi.” Earlier he had been the rabbi in a small shtetl near Vitebsk. With his arrival in the city, things turned dark. First he got into a quarrel with Rabbi Medalia. That anyone would have a quarrel with Rabbi Medalia was already a new thing. But people could ask no questions of the Russian Rabbi. It remained only to go to the Lubavitsher Rebbe, z”l, to adjudicate. He ruled that Goldberg must not encroach on Medalia. But the Rebbe's ruling was of little help.

In 1926, a “Red Shochet” came to Vitebsk, Shmuel Sverdlov. Only then did the real battle begin in the city. Sverdlov and Goldberg united, and they decided, together with the G.P.O. Even earlier people had recognized

[Page 597]

that the “Russian Rabbi” was wed to the G.P.O. You have to understand that people would not accept meat that Sverdlov had slaughtered. This caused further quarrels in the city. Both of these people who were close to the G.P.O.—Rabbi Goldberg and the shochet Sverdlov—as one can imagine, had the upper hand. The G.P.O. involved itself in the disagreement and expelled all of the shochets on the smaller side. The whole slaughtering business went to Sverdlov. Every day the battles in the city became more bitter. The upshot was that all shochets were prohibited in the city, and not only on the smaller side, from doing any slaughtering.

The economic situation was a little better in Russia in 1921 under the NEP (the New Economic Policy). This so-called “good time” lasted several years—until 1928, when the Bolsheviks returned to their stringent regime, which was much worse than the time of military communism. In those good years, people tried to support our religious institutions—the yeshivas, cheders, Talmud-Torahs, which in the first years of the Bolshevik government had been weakened through persecutions.

There were no large yeshivas in Vitebsk at that time. Rabbi Rabinovitch had a small yeshiva in Zahoria. But when he went to America in 1925, the yeshiva shut down. Cheders—both the state, which the community supported, and the private—as well as the Talmud-Torahs, existed in all three divisions of the city. Generally about 50 students learned in a cheder. But there were new persecutions of the cheders, and from year to year there were fewer students in each. Finally, all of the city cheders had to close. Only private cheders remained. But the teachers remained in jeopardy.

In the summer of 5687 (1927), the Lubavitch rebbe, z”l, founded a yeshiva in Vitebsk and brought the young men from the Lubavitch yeshiva in Polotzk, because that yeshiva had come under attack. Young men from Vitebsk also attended the yeshiva. At first the yeshiva had 40-50 students, and later it grew to 150. The yeshiva had several levels: from beginning Gemara up to levels of Gemara with commentators. It was not so easy to maintain a yeshiva with

[Page 598]

so many students. It was especially difficult in Bolshevik times. As was the custom, people tried to care for the yeshiva students with “days” [i.e., days on which the students would take meals at individuals' homes], but there were not enough “days” for all of the students. People therefore had to be strong and find money for these students. Otherwise the yeshiva could not survive. The Bolsheviks cast their eye on the yeshiva. It became dangerous to hold the yeshiva in a single shul, so the boys were divided up according to classes, with each class in a separate shul.

One fine day in the winter of 1928, between mincha and ma'ariv, all of the shuls where the boys studied were attacked. In one shul they found the head of the yeshiva, R' Avraham Breinin, a”h, teaching a lesson, and they arrested him. On Zarutshaya, the boys studied in the Women's Shul. When people heard that “guests” had arrived from the G.P.O., the head of the yeshiva slipped out unrecognized. When the G.P.O. came into the Women's Shul, they found only the students. The students were asked where the head of the yeshiva was and the names and addresses where they had their “days.” The students were prepared with their responses: they were studying without a yeshiva head, and they ate in their own homes. They gave names and addresses, you understand, were fictitious. This time the boys were not tormented, although it was not hard to tell that they were not telling the truth. From then on, the head of the yeshiva was afraid to come and deliver his lessons. He would come only for one hour per week, give the boys a little money for support, and tell them what to study. Such learning could have little effect. Then they had another idea—to begin the lessons at 6 in the morning. A number of the students lived far away and so had to leave their homes at 5 so that they could be on time for their lessons. Going through the city on the major roads was dangerous. The militia could catch them and take them for questioning about where they were going so early. So they had to go by back roads. They had to take a lot of routes, but there was no alternative. However, the boys did this for the entire winter, and that winter was very severe.

After Pesach, they had to leave the shul on the Zarutshayer Side and

[Page 599]

return to the Baron Shul. On the small side, they still studied in two shuls.

In the winter of 1929, the Bolsheviks dispersed the Lubavitch yeshiva in Nevel and arrested the heads of the yeshiva and its directors. The yeshiva students went from Nevel to Vitebsk. The number of yeshiva students grew, but the dangers became greater and greater. Of necessity, people had to be more attentive to the evil eyes of the G.P.O. The students were divided up into smaller classes and studied in more shuls. People even had to be careful with the custodians of the shuls lest someone blurt out something. And the Bosheviks sniffed and snooped everywhere. Between mincha and ma'ariv, when people came to pray in shul, the students would gather in the Women's Shul and wait there until people had left the shul. Then they would return to their studies. Only the trustees and the sexton knew this “secret.”

In the same year, 1929, the persecutions of our religious institutions grew stronger. In Vitebsk, they took three shuls—first the Kor Shul on Zarutshaya, then the large Lubavitch Shul on Ilinsker Street, and the Pisarevskis Shul on Vokzalner Street. The Bolsheviks were very sneaky—silent, without creating a stir. All large, open buildings belonged to the state power, you see, including the shul buildings. The pretext was that the shul buildings were abandoned and damaged, and so they had to be remodeled, because it was dangerous for people to go there to pray. For this remodeling, the shuls needed a treasure like Korach's, and where would they get such funds? Of necessity, the trustees had to forego remodeling the shuls. In truth, people could understand that even if they wanted to somehow remodel the shuls, they would have been seized. The Bolsheviks could always think up pretexts. The fate of the shuls was sealed. By stages, with one excuse or another, all of the city's shuls were taken. However, the Bolshevik government showed its “broad-heartedness” and “devotion” to religious Jews by leaving one old, broken down little shul for prayers. People had to pray in private houses, and even this was not without its dangers.

Even before the city's shuls were seized, people could not

[Page 600]

study in them. The G.P.O. kept an eye on the shuls and on the students, where they went and what they did. My father, a”h, gave a room in our apartment for the yeshiva students. They began their lessons early in the morning—at 5 a.m. But this learning also did not last long. The Bolsheviks quickly made an end of the last remnants of the yeshiva. A couple of weeks before Pesach in 1930, the head of the yeshiva and the directors were arrested. And my father, a”h, was also arrested. I was also arrested with my father. I was released the next day,, but the others were in G.P.O. custody for three weeks. Then they were all transferred to prison. They were confined to a room with criminals, who actually treated these people well, even with respect. The “leader” in this cell was actually a Jew, though he was not, you understand, a great Tzadik, as he appeared to the frightened, exhausted G.P.O. prisoners, Jews with long beards and sidecurls, dressed in long kaftans. He knew that the “fellowship” in “his” cell would “play” with these religious Jews. He took them under his protection. First he made room for them on a cot, which was already a great kindness. Otherwise they would have had to lie on the floor under the cots. He also told his fellows not to disturb them or their possessions. And so it was.

The prison committee quickly learned that they had a “good life” in this cell, so they were transferred to another cell. In this new cell, they had to lie under the cots. My father, a”h, became ill. His feet were so swollen that he could not bend his knees. When he had to bend down to get under the cot, he was in such pain that he could not stand it, and more than once he begged for death.

We were able to smuggle into the prison taleisim and tefillin for our leaders, and even a shofar for the Days of Awe. At one point, people learned that there would be an inspection of the religious Jews. They hid the taleisim and tefillin with a Christian detainee. The inspection went by without incident. They wanted to reward the detainee, but he refused to take any gifts for saving those arrested from danger…

[Page 601]

Our people were in the prison for three months. On the first day of Rosh Hashanah we got the good news that on that day the representatives of the yeshiva would be released. I went to the prison right away. There I met a huge crowd of Jews—both local and from afar. Even now when they said they would free them, the Bolsheviks could not proceed without playing a trick. Our yeshiva people had to wait to sign a paper so that they could get back all of their things. Remember—they were forbidden to write on Rosh Hashanah. They were threatened that if they did not sign the papers, they would remain in jail for who knows how long. However, they held out and did not sign the papers. At the end of the holiday, they were all released.

Now that the yeshiva was closed and private study was not possible, twelve young men fled to Kutais in Gruzia [Georgia]. The Bolsheviks had not yet rampaged there. Ink Kutais, the young men met with other difficulties. Quite simply, they did not know how to converse with the local Jews—the young men did not understand their language, and the local Jews did not speak Yiddish. They settled on Hebrew. They knew how to say “Shema Yisroel,” but they said it in such a way that it was impossible to understand. The twelve young men could not be helped. But luckily, a little earlier a group of Lubavitch Chasidim, including Rabbi Chaim Lieberman, had come to Kutais. Thanks to them, the young men could stay there and resume their studies of Torah.

In the winter of 1931, militiamen came to our home to ask about my father, a”h. People knew that if they came to ask questions, that meant arrest. Since the militiamen did not know him, my father told them that he was not at home and had gone to work. My father, a”h, quickly left, you understand. The militiamen came looking for him several times, but they did not find him. He was arrested in 1938. A provocateur pointed him out. He was a former shochet from a small town. He had committed some infraction and was to be shot. Naturally, he could save himself from death if he became an agent of the NKVD. So he did. He came to Vitebsk and

[Page 602]

began to seek out victims among the religious Jews. One of his victims was my father, a”h. The “good news” about my father's arrest was conveyed to me by the same provocateur in Moscow, where he met me in a shul while I was praying. It appears that Vitebsk was too small for him and he was looking for victims in Moscow.

For the last years before the world war, I could not remain in Vitebsk. Only once, in 1938, when my mother died, did I return home. Then I went to Moscow. When I saw that provocateur in shul, I understood that he was after me. With great effort, however, I managed to extricate myself from his hands.

In this way, in the thirties, this chapter of Jewish religious institutions ended in Vitebsk…

[Page 627]

The first Vitebskers appeared on the shores of America in the eighties of the nineteenth century along with the stream of Jewish emigrants from Russia. Their fate was probably similar to the fate of the emigrants from other cities and towns. The hard work in the workshops or in peddling required from the new immigrants the exertion of all their strength, and these people could not always be certain they would have what they needed to exist. And the loneliness in such a big city as New York or Philadelphia was painful, so that people found their only consolation in nostalgia for their old home or in memories of former years, which swam in a rose-colored fog. Like the other immigrants, the Vitebsker passionately sought in the new land an old friend, landsmen, who shared a similar fate, with whom one could be close and find a brotherly feeling. One can imagine that in the purely human, profound, spiritual need to create a new brotherly home lay the nucleus of the landsmanshaft movement among the immigrant masses, which also affected the Vitebsker in America.

The Vitebsk Benevolent Association, the oldest Vitebsk immigrant organization in America, was born on June 20, 1900, but attempts to unite the Vitebskers had been made several times earlier. At the beginning of the 1890s, several Vitebskers started a “club” for landsmen that lasted for a short while. This club left no traces. Soon after, in 1892, according to Max Labran, there was a second attempt to create a

[Page 628]

Vitebsk organization in New York, but it apparently it was not the right time for such unity: there was no “unity because of politics”–this is what led to the failure of such an organization. The number of members in the organization was quite small, and there was little harmony among them. Each one wanted to impose his “ideology” on the organization.

We believe that the Vitebsk landsmanshaft movement in New York began in the evening of June 20, 1900, when, in Henry Hall, 49 Henry Street, the Vitebsk organization was established. At this founding gathering it was decided that religious, political, and party issues should be excluded from the new organization. The new Vitebsk organization would conduct its communal activities on the basis of brotherhood and friendship–helping members in their hour of need and illness with generosity and to do everything to serve as a center for all Vitebskers who come to America. The first president of this Vitebsk organization was David Ravitch. The group of founders who put their stamp on the further activities of the new organization were the following: Joe Dukarevitsh (Diuk), Abe Dukarevitsh, Joe Rogatski (Ranat), Louis Brill, Louis Kaplan, Morris Ettenberg, Max Shapiro, Nissen Deichen, Max Feldman, and Dr. Robert Greenberg (Green). The new organization began its manifold activities with a total of 9 dollars, all that remained after the hall, where the founding had taken place, was paid for. It is understandable that most of the capital of the organization depended on the first members who joined. In the early years, the number of Vitebskers in New York was not too large. But at the time of the revolutionary events in Russia, especially in 1905 and 1906, the number of immigrants from Vitebsk greatly increased, as was reflected in the number of members. According to the available records, the membership in the organization was as follows:

1910	65 members
1920	200
1930	300
1940	300
1950	280

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In accordance with the duties and aims that the Vitebsk organization had set for itself, for more than 50 years it had conducted many activities, with a focus on supporting, on helping the weaker landsmen.

Already in its first year of existence, one of the founders (Nissen Deichen) passed away. Because the Vitebsk organization had no burial ground, the organization had to go to another organization that had its own cemetery. After this tragic incident, the question arose of buying a cemetery. On May 6, 1901, it was decided at a special meeting to buy a section in the “Mount Zion Cemetery for 240 plots. Carrying out this plan was not easy financially, but it had to be done. After three years, the sacred place was enclosed and our brothers asked to have their names engraved on the gate, which put a sum of money into the organization's treasury. In order to match the expenses associated with the cemetery, from time to time there were special undertakings. On January 4, 1913, more cemetery land was purchased, 260 plots, in “Mount Yehuda Cemetery.”

According to the organization's constitution, there was a special committee that had the right, if necessary, to undertake relief activity. It established and maintained an interest-free loan fund that would lend sums up to 100 dollars without interest to be repaid in installments. There was an aid committee that helped members in need with even greater sums (from 300 to 500 dollars). In 1923-1924, they decided to give the heirs of a deceased member 1000 dollars (earlier it had been only 500 dollars). The organization also cared for members who were ill, supporting them with money and taking care of their medical needs. (Two doctors were engaged–one fort Brooklyn and the second for the Bronx.)

The regular income for the organization came from membership dues and from special collections. At the beginning, dues were 8 dollars a year. Later that was increased to 12 dollars, and in the 20s to 20 dollars. A further important source of income was the Jubilee Banquets, which were organized about

[Page 630]

Pioneers and active members of “The Vitebsk Benevolent Association” From right to left–1st row: David Ravitch, Dr. Robert Greenberg, Max Feldman; 2nd row: Max Kiselgoff, Sam Login, Joe Diuk; 3rd row: Joel Rogart, Max Kaplan, Isidore Ostroff

[Page 631]

Pioneers and active members of “The Vitebsk Benevolent Association” From right to left–1st row: Sam Tumarkin, Louis Naumov, Henny Sobel; 2nd row: Louis Horovitz, Sam Leon, Sam Katzen; 3rd row: Morris Levitan, Max Labran, Joe Levinson; 4th row: Louis Burgoff, Louis Fildman, Harry L. Fine

[Page 632]

every five years with an extensive program, a rich and interesting program, with Jubilee publications and special souvenir issues. These Jubilee celebrations attracted not only members and their families but also a large number of honored guests and publicized in Jewish New York the Vitebsk organization, attracting much attention to its activities. The leaders of the organization Louis Horovitz and Max Labran, devote in their reports much space to these Jubilee events, because they see in them important phases of the organization's existence.

Aside from its work in aiding its members, the organization devoted much attention to other community duties, in addition to its normal daily work. In hindsight, a special place belongs to the activity that the organization undertook together with the Vitebsk “Bund” Branch 224 of the Workers Circle to help our brothers in Vitebsk after the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. A special collection was announced by the organization, and a sum of $2,500 was amassed for this purpose. One of the founders, Dr. Robert Greenberg, went to Russia in 1922 and visited Vitebsk, donating the money to an orphan home in the name of the Vitebsk landsmanshaft in America. This went on year after year: the economic crisis of 1929-1930, the Second World War, in which many members' sons defended either the democratic ideals of America or the beleaguered Jewish people. After the war, again in conjunction with Vitebsk Branch 224 of the Workers Circle, they undertook an activity to aid Vitebsk, and at a meeting they collected $2,000, but unfortunately the Soviet government diverted this undertaking from its purpose (so that it went not only to the Jews of Vitebsk but to the whole population), so that it would have very little effect. People gave a little money in individual packages, and the remaining $1,700 was given to the United Jewish Appeal.

Other organizations always received help from our Vitebsk organization, which always had a budget for tzedakah. When the State of Israel was proclaimed and later, when the bond drive was announced, the members of our Vitebsk organization collected, from 1949 until 1953, $43,000 for the United Jewish Appeal,”

[Page 633]

and contributed many thousands of dollars to the bond campaign. This demonstrates the vivid response of the Vitebskers to important Jewish community and national institutions.

It is important to note that the second generation of our American Vitebsk landsmen also worked actively in the interests of the landsmanshaft and followed in the footsteps of the pioneers and upheld the traditions and aims for which the organization was established.

The financial situation of the organization at the beginning of 1956 was as follows: we possess in Israel bonds, in cash, and in American savings bonds over $60,000. In addition, the organization has 3 paid-for cemeteries with over 500 plots.

Finally, we will give a list of the most important workers for the organization who, from 1900 until 1955, in a variety of positions conducted the abovementioned community functions and led the activities of the Vitebskers in America:

Presidents of the organization were: David Ravitch, Dr. R. Greenberg, Max Kisselgoff, Zalmen-Zelik Dukarevitch, Max Labran, Max Kaplan, Joe Levinson, Israel Ostrovski, Sam Login, Louis Burgoff, Morris Leviton, Harry L. Fine, Sam Tumarkin, Henny Joe Sobel, Louis Naumov, Louis Fildman, Sam Leon.

Financial Secretaries: Max Yoffe, Max Labran, Max Feldman (20 years), Alex Plavnik (15 years), Henny Joe Sobel, Morton Levinson.

Treasurer: Joe Diuk, Joe Levinson, Sam Katzen, Louis Naumov, H. Pirotenski, Max Labran, Louis Horovitz (20 years). 

Among other active members we should also cite the head of hospitality, Shimon Yaffe (over 20 years) and Sam Katzen from the Chevra Kadisha (22 years).

Original footnote:

1. Assembled on the basis of the reports of the leaders of the “Benevolent Association,” Max Labran and Louis Horovitz. Return

[Page 634]

The Vitebsk Branch of the Workers Circle in New York was established in the fall of 1908. “On October 8,” writes Sam Ageloff, the branch's first financial secretary, “we came to a hall on East Broadway to install our branch of the Workers Circle, and when the charter with the number 224 was given to us, everyone was in high spirits.” The first meeting of the new branch of Vitebsk “Bund” 224 came on October 16, under the chairmanship of Isaak Pushkin. The first secretary elected was Alex Plavnik. “At the founding of the branch,” recalls Barnet Miringoff, one of the builders of the branch, “we were a group of 28 members; after the passage of several years, we had grown to several hundred.” As we see from the records, in 1923 there were 255 members, in 1938 there were 160, and in 1953, 149. We can see the decline in numbers, as the older generation left and were not replaced. Nevertheless, the branch over its 50-year existence held an honored place in the large Jewish organization of the “Workers Circle.” It took part in all branches of the community activities in America and developed, in accord with its abilities and strengths, productive labors for the good of Vitebskers who found in America a friendly, companionable environment, and also for the benefit of our brothers, whether in their old or new home.

The city of Vitebsk, which held the best youthful dreams of our members and their first step in community life, their first battle under the banner of the movement for liberty

[Page 635]

Dr. Mendel Rakolin

[Page 636]

The Vitebsk Branch 224 had a long pre-history that began in the revolutionary years of 1904-1905 and was directly connected to Vitebsk. So writes B. Miringoff in his memoir: “Just as in New York there existed a Vitebsk ‘Bund’ organization, I knew of one in Vitebsk. A brother of our member Yoshke the tinsmith, Moysheke, at the Dvarianska Conference showed me an excerpt from the “Forward” with a report from a meeting of the Vitebsk organization of the ‘Bund’ in Brooklyn, signed by J. Rutrik,” who was later the leader of the branch for many years. In a separate article, Miringoff recalls how in Vitebsk, in conjunction with the work of the political Red Cross (to help the arrested and exiled), the committee of the “Bund” on its own initiative turned to the Vitebsk members in America. The call from Vitebsk fell on favorable soil, and in Brooklyn it taught the Vitebsk organization, headed by Itzik Baranovski, Shloymke Israelev, Louis Rabinovitsh, and others who had been active Bundists in Vitebsk. This Bundist organization sent help either through the Red Cross or through the “Bund” in Vitebsk, and indeed from that group was later formed Branch 224 of the Workers Circle. Hirshel Yosse Safra recalls in his memoir how in 1905 he had met in 1905 on Zamkover Street in Vitebsk with the “little bear,” (B. Miringoff), how said that help would soon arrive from America and with the money people could set up a monument on the graves of the seven victims who fell in the revolutionary battle. After the revolutionary years of 1906-1907, the stream of emigrants from Russia grew, and the number of Vitebsk Bundists in New York slowly increased, and so the Bundist organization developed into Branch 224 of the Workers Circle and included in its name the honorary title of “Bund.” Barnet Miringoff relates that after his arrival in America in 1907, a special gathering was convened in Brooklyn, on Bushwick Avenue, of the Bundist organization that was already a center for the Vitebsk working immigrants and not only for the Bundists. It is interesting to note that, for example, Sam Ageloff, who in our old home was a Social-Democrat, not a Bundist, easily found for himself a place in the Bundist organization. The same was true for several Zionists, such as Louis Rubin, who joined Branch 224 under the

[Page 637]

Executive Committee of Branch 224 of the Workers Circle in 1953 From right to left–First row: B. Miringoff, D. Genin, M. Jacobson, S. Henkin, M. Slavin, S. Angeloff, A. Genin, D. Geiger; Second row: L. Rabinovitsh, D. Gitshteyn, Rozin, Mrs. Rose Genin, Zlatke Jacobson, B. Semford, B. Kushinoff, Sverdloff, H. Mirkin, L. Rubin; Third row: F. Star, S. Charloff, D. Rutrik

[Page 638]

influence of his wife–a Bundist: “She convinced me,” he writes, “that I would not be betraying my party and my ideals if I would join this branch.” It should also be noted that a couple of years later, when Branch 224 of the Workers Circle already existed, there were in New York other “centers” for the immigrants from Vitebsk.

At that time, the Branch conducted normal business with the other branches of the Workers Circle. According to the description of the activities reported by Sam Ageloff and Sam Bruskin, it seems that the first six or seven years of the Branch's existence “were years of strengthening.” Thanks to the flow of immigrants in 1915-1916, the number of members grew to 275. “The Branch responded to everything that the workers movement in the country demanded”: it supported the work of the Socialist Party, the strikes that were called in those years, the socialist press, all the institutions that the Workers Circle had created. The Branch also, to the best of its ability, sent aid to Russia, to the old home. It goes without saying that aid for members in their hour of need was organized most generously and on a true brotherly foundation.

Aid activities for Vitebsk were especially strong in the years between 1918 and 1922 when, after the Bolshevik overthrow, people from our old home who had suffered so much from the First World War, from hunger and from the revolutionary shock in October of 1917, turned to the Branch. On the initiative of the Branch, a conference was held of all the landsmanshaftn from Vitebsk and from the Vitebsk district. Large collections of funds were conducted and substantial sums were sent to our suffering brothers across the ocean. In 1923, on the initiative of the leaders of the Vitebsk Benevolent Association, Dr. Greenberg, Louis Horovitz, Levinson, Naumov, and Labran, there was established by both organizations–by Branch 224 and the Benevolent Association–a committee to found an orphan home in Vitebsk. Funds were collected from our landsmen and were sent to Vitebsk. The two organizations issued a periodical, “The Vitebsk Landsman.”

At that time, especially in 1923-1924, there were fissures in the workers movements in America. Even more severe

[Page 639]

were the rifts and disagreements in the ranks of the Workers Circle because of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia.

Our Vitebsk landsmen were also caught up in these political battles and passions, and in 1927 the differences became so pronounced that part of Branch 24 abandoned their memberships and organized another branch, number 509. This split lasted for three years. In 1930 the atmosphere changed, and on May 12 the two branches reunited. Branch 509 ceased to exist, and the Vitebskers were united under one roof–under the roof of Branch 224 of the Workers Circle.

In 1935 a women's club was established for the branch, consisting of former active Bundists in Vitebsk who took part in all of the activities of the branch. The Women's Club, whose founders included Sarah Goodman and Zlotke Jacobson, have worked in the interests of the community and for the benefit of members.

Branch 224 participates in the Jewish Workers Committee. It provides leadership and aid in conducting activities to benefit “ORT” and its affiliates and to benefit HIAS. The Branch has aided the fighters for freedom in Spain and later in the time of the Second World War the Branch led activities to aid the victims of fascism and Nazism.

Particularly important are the activities in the framework of the Workers Circle for Yiddish culture. Even in 1927 the Branch opened two secular Yiddish schools, in the Bronx and in Williamsburg. These schools were the darlings of Vitebsk Branch 224. “All of the schools of the Workers Circle are dear to us and are supported by our Branch, but these two schools, we feel, are the direct product of our labors,” wrote S. Bruskin and Ab. Genin, the representatives of the Branch, in an article. The contribution of the Branch to the school movement was emphasized by B. Miringoff, who proudly recalled that “our Branch was the initiator of the youth clubs, from which came later on the Young Circle League.” And B. Mingiroff himself, one of the active builders of the school movement of the Workers Circle, was himself the chair of the Y.L. Peretz Workers Circle School Number 1 in the Bronx for 30 years.

[Page 640]

Over time, funds were created to help members of the Branch–a fund for immediate help. Systematic work was done in the area of culture: lectures, literary entertainments, theatrical presentations, and so on. Publications held a special place in the Branch's work. They came out from time to time, especially around the Jubilees. It is important to emphasize the part played by the Branch in founding the Workers Circle home for the elderly, as well as ion other activities–the Branch supported the home for children in Germany in the name of Vladek and the building of a hospital in the Negev in the state of Israel.

We will conclude with a list of Vitebsk members who were the most active over the years in various positions in Vitebsk Branch 224. We know that scores of members took part in the daily efforts, and it is clear that without their assistance, generosity, and idealism the branch would not have succeeded in meeting its goals. But since it is impossible to provide a full list of members from over 48 years of activity all the pioneers and builders of the Vitebsk Branch in New Yori, we must supply only the names of executives. Among the active members who no longer inhabit the earth, we will cite some of the first, Sam Senford, whose generosity is remembered by Branch members until this very day and Dr. Mendel Rakolin, who was one of the builders of the Workers Circle Home for the Elderly. Mendel Rakolin's wife Natalia is still active in the Branch. The executives were: the first financial secretary, for many years, was Alex Plavnik, and also his longtime deputy in that post–Morris Slavin; Sam Ageloff, chair of the Branch's education committee; the school activist, Barnet Mirngoff; the treasurer, Max Jacobson (who, with his wife Zlatke was active in the city committee of the Workers Circle); recording secretaries, M. Liburkin and Ab. Genin, Sam Bruskin, who was for a time a member of the national executive of the Workers Circle. It is also worth noting that Zlatke Jacobson, Sara Goodman, and Rose Genin were representatives of the Branch's Women's Club. David Geiger and Sam Charloff represented the Branch in the Women's Club.

Original footnote:

1. Assembled on the basis of reports from the branch activists Sam Agaloff, Barnet Miringoff, and Morris Slavin. Return

[Page 641]

[Page 642]

Ablitz, David and Fanny
In memory of our parents.

Abramis (Abramson), Son, Brother, and Sister
In memory of Yisroel-Yosef son of R. Meir HaCohen Abramis, died 12 Iyar 5675.

Abramson (Abramis), Dvorah and Yisroel-Yosef
In memory of our dear parents Moyshe and Risha Abramis (Abramson), our brothers Mendel and Aryeh-Leib, sisters Sonia Samuels and Batya Kossoff, who died in New York.

Abramson (Abramis), Shmuel, Avraham, Chaya-Liba, and Leah-Bracha
In memory of our dear parents R. Meir son of R. Yisroel-Yosef HaCohen and Rokhl bat R. Shneour Abramis. Our father died in Vitebsk 4 Av 5679, and our mother died in New Yor 28 Av 5688.

Ageloff, Shmuel
In eternal memory of my father Hillel and my mother Chaya-Rokhl.

Bogorad, Shlomo
In eternal memory of my parents.

Baranovski, Sam
In eternal memory of my brother Itzke Baranovski.

Bell, Zalman
In eternal memory of my father Herzl and my mother Chanah.

Beller, Bella and Children
In the bright memory of my husband and companion and our dear father Moyshe Beller (Moyshe the Dvinsker), died in Illyria, Ohio, 1955.

Briskin, Sheffe
In eternal memory of my father Paltiel and my mother Chanah-Lipshe.

Goldshteyn, Ben-Tzion and Peshe
In eternal memory of our parents Yisroel-Yakov and Maryasse Goldshteyn and brothers Berra and Ephraim and their families, who died–were killed–in Rudnia and nearby. My wife's parents Yakov-Yosef and rokhl-Leah Melamed, brothers Yisroel-Shloyme and Baruch-Shalom with their wives, who died in Vitebsk; our unforgettable little daughter, born 28 Kislev 5675, died in New Yor 29 Teveth 5780.

Gaynor, David
In memory of my father Yitzchak-Ber and my mother Batya-Bluma.

Genin, Abe and Joe
In memory of our father Leib, our mother Sheyne-Shifra, and our brother Mulya.

Grabshteyn, Mamie and Sam
In memory of our sister and sister-in-law Tilly Kandel.

Dorfman, Sam
In memory of my father Mordechai and my mother Gitta-Malia.

Jacobson, Zlotke
In memory of my father Chaim and my mother Yetta Pikhovski.

Horovitz, Louis
In memory of my father Yitzchak-Eizik HaLevi and my mother Feyga.

Henkin, Yosef
In memory of my father Leyzer and my mother Kisha-Chaya.

[Page 643]

Volgatten, V.
In memory of my parents.

Tamarkin, David
In memory of my father Chanan and my mother Chana-Merra.

Chaikin, Itzke
In memory of my father Yitzchak and my mother Assne-Royze.

Levin, Tzvi-Hirsch and Sons
Dedicated to the memory of my unforgettable wife and companion, mother of our children, Beilke Ytakin0Levin, who died 10 Adar 1950.

Miringoff, Barnett (Berke)
In memory of my father Moyshe and my mother Riva-Rokhl.

Miringoff, Boris
In memory of my father Moyshe and my mother Chaya.

Miringoff, Louis and Milton
In memory of our mother Pessya-Hashe

Naumov, Louis
In memory of my father Yosef-Sender and my mother Freyda.

Niemeiten, Ilusha and Dvorah
In memory of our dear parents Yakov and Freyda Niemeiten, who died in Vitebsk in 1917.

Safro, Sam
In memory of my brother Hirshel-Yasha and sister Tzipka.

Star, Philip
In. memory of my father Avraham-Abba and my mother Freyda-Esther.

Slavin, Morris
In memory of my father Anshel and my mother Chaya.

Slavin, Anshel and Sisters Celia and Doris
In memory of our mother Chaya-Sarah.

Seltzer, Ida, and Manya Brown
In the bright memory of our beloved parents Avraham and Ettel Lieberman and our sister Masha, who died in Vitebsk, and my husband, Eli Seltzer, who died in New York.

Senford, Bentzia
In memory of my father Abraham, my mother Feyga-Chaya, and my brother Shmuel.

Plavnik, Alex
In memory of my father Hershel and my mother Riva.

Kolikoff, Vera and Brother Avraham Rokhlin
In memory of our father Berra, our mother Riva Rokhlin, and our brother Dr. Mendel Rokolin.

Klein, Bessie and her sisters Boirte, Poirl, Dorothy
In memory of our father Natte and our mother Eidle Miringoff.

Case, Abe
In memory of my father Shloyme-Leib and my mother Chaya-Rokhl.

Rabinovitch, Louis
In memory of my father Itze and my mother Chaya.

[Page 644]

Rodin, Shlomo, Gershon, and children David, Helen, and Irving
In memory of my wife and our mother Leah Gnessia.

Rosen, Tilly
In memory of my husband Frank.

Rom, Yankl
In memory of my father Shmuel-Shmerl and my mother Riva-Pozhe.

Rapkin, Nachman and children Joel, Hirshl, and Alexander
In memory of my wife and our mother Chaya-Yetta.

Rapkin, Sonia
In memory of my husband Eli and my son Louis.

Rapkin, Robert and Nachman
In memory of our father Aharon-Vulf and our mother Yakha.

Rakolin, Natalia
In memory of my husband Mendel, and my father and mother, Yitzchak and Golda Ratner.

Rutrik, Yoshke and his Wife
In memory of our son David, who was killed in the Second World War.

Rutrik, Moyshke and Yoshke
In memory of our father Yehuda and our mother Hinde.

Schechter, the Family
In memory of my husband Aryeh-Leib Melamed (Shechter) and beloved father of our children, who died on August 18, 1942.

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